Junebug: What inspired your personal wedding style, and how did you incorporate your style and personalities into your big day?

Ying and Jorge: We wanted our wedding to be a classy and glamorous affair. We didnt have a particular theme but we knew we wanted an intimate wedding with lots of personalized touches and local flavor with warm neutral colours. We only had 6 months to plan our wedding (from choosing the destination to the finished product!) but we spent countless hours and corresponded through countless emails with our wonderful planner to make sure we had every detail covered. We chose our wedding venues carefully. Capuchinas and San Jose el Viejo are magnificent ruins of 18th century convents/churches which are now tourist attractions frequently used to host weddings and other events. We had our ceremony in the back garden of the Capuchinas on the lush green lawn surrounded by flowers and trees with our altar being a free standing stone wall. Escenica did a great job transforming our vision into reality – we had lots of fresh flowers, crystals, votive candles, and lanterns. Our reception dinner was at San Jose el Viejo. We used a lot of antiques to decorate San Jose el Viejo to complement its natural beauty. We also added many personal touches such as pictures, personalized favor bags, handmade place card holders, groom & bride chair decorations, custom wine bottle labels and drink glass decorations. Our menus were in English and Spanish as some of the grooms family only spoke Spanish. We also incorporated touches of Guatemala into our decorations, including coffee leaves (what Antigua is known for) and beans and colorful local candies. Our wedding was truly magical and everyone kept on telling us that it was the best wedding they’ve ever gone to. We could not have asked for a better day.

Junebug: Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding?

Ying and Jorge: We had a casual rehearsal dinner at Sobremesa, a small restaurant with fantastic food and wine. We had the place to ourselves and it was lots of fun.

Although not originally in the plan, we ended up seeing each other and spent some time right before the ceremony together alone at the Capuchinas. One of the best decisions we made!

We really enjoyed our reception, it was intimate and really special to be able to spend time with our closest family and friends.

Our photo sessions through our various locations in Antigua was a great way for us to see the local attractions. We visited quite a few places which we would not have had time to visit, and they were so beautiful!

Ying and Jorge: We searched online for destination photographers and came across Caroline+Ben. They really capture the moments and peoples emotions in a spontaneous and natural way. We also thought they would be great at capturing the colors and natural beauty of Antigua and Lake Atitlan (for day after pictures) had to offer.

Thank you for sharing Ying and Jorge, and Caroline+Ben! To find the perfect photographer for your own destination wedding, visit Junebug Wedding’s Best Wedding Photographer Hotlist!

Greetings,
I am getting married in Guatemala this year in October and I am having a hard time finding an officiant. Was your officiant from Guatemala? Do you have his contact information? I am needing someone who can conduct a Spanish/English ceremony. Thank you in advance and your wedding looked phenomenal !!

How much was the breakdown of the wedding? What were the most expensive parts of it? And what was the least?How did you select the food?.. did you taste it or just select it ?
I’m sorry I have so many questions